Plantilla:Wikiportal:Main/DYK
The contest was initially developed as a way to not only introduce new broadcasting techniques, but also as a way to bring the countries of Europe closer together through music as the continent continued to rebuild after World War II.Click here for a new fact In 60 years, over 1,440 songs have competed in the Eurovision Song Contest. Click here for a new fact Germany holds the longevity record, missing only 1 contest in its history when it failed to advance from the audio-only qualifier in 1996. Click here for a new fact In 2008, a record number of 43 countries took part, just like in 2011. Click here for a new fact No song has ever won from the second spot in the running order, leading people to believe that this particular performing spot is "cursed". Click here for a new fact Over 5 million tweets were posted during the final of the 2014 contest, peaking highest during Conchita Wurst's performance and her victory. Click here for a new fact During the Grand Final of 2012, more than 1.5 million tweets were posted with the hashtag #Eurovision, peaking already 20 minutes into the live broadcast. Click here for a new fact Poland made the most impressive debut in 1994, when Edyta Gorniak came 2nd with "To nie ja", closely followed by Serbia's victory in 2007. Latvia were the third most impressive in 2000, finishing in third place. Click here for a new fact Dutch conductor Dolf van der Linden conducted for seven different countries (Belgium, Germany, Ireland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Sweden and Switzerland). Click here for a new fact Noel Kelehan conducted five winners (1980, 1987, 1992, 1993 and 1996), all for the same country - Ireland. Click here for a new fact Live vocals have always been mandatory since the very first contest, and from 1956 until 1998, so was live music by an orchestra. By 1999, instrumental backing tracks replaced all live orchestral music in the contest. Click here for a new fact Eurovision Song Contest made its debut in Lugano, Switzerland on 24 May 1956. Seven nations took part performing two songs each. Click here for a new fact The 1957 contest was held on Lys Assia's birthday - 3 March. Click here for a new fact Doris Dragović used electronic voices in her backing track for "Marija Magdalena" in 1999. A third of the entry's points were docked as a result. Click here for a new fact Nina Morato used foul language both live and in the studio of "Je suis un vrai garçon" in 1994. She and the French delegation were not punished in any way. Click here for a new fact Jury members shall not have not been a part of a national jury in the preceding two years. Click here for a new fact Dschinghis Khan and Love City Groove. Do these links lead to the songs or the bands? Click here for a new fact Yardena Arazi is said to be deeply superstitious. In 1988, she agreed to represent her country when a tarot reader told her the song performing ninth would win the contest (Israel had been in the ninth spot, but with the withdrawal of Cyprus, that spot went to Switzerland, which went on to win the contest) Click here for a new fact Viver Senza Tei is the only entry to be performed in Romansh. Click here for a new fact Ann Sophie and Melanie Rene were both born on the same day in 1990. Click here for a new fact Sweden have hosted at least once every decade since their first win in 1974. Click here for a new fact Katja Ebstein became the only artist to finish in the top three on three different occasions without having won the contest. Click here for a new fact Israel became the first country to not defend its title after winning in 1979. Click here for a new fact 1980 was the first year the points were read in ascending numerical order. This was to increase the excitement factor for the audience as to which country would get the 12 points. Click here for a new fact Sandie Shaw admitted to not liking "Puppet on a String" Click here for a new fact "Boom Bang-a-Bang", one of the 1969 joint winners, was banned by the BBC at the time of the Gulf War. Click here for a new fact 1964 winner Gigilola Cinquetti's second song, Sì, was banned in Italy for over a month in 1974 due to a divorce referendum going on at the time. Click here for a new fact Valentina Monetta broke a "prophecy" of winning at least once when performing three times in a row. This was held by Lys Assia, Corry Brokken and Udo Jürgens. Click here for a new fact "Hard Rock Hallelujah" scored the exact same number place and points in the final as it did in the semi-final, 1st with 292 points. Click here for a new fact "Everyway That I Can" was the first (and at present, only) song to win performing out of the fourth slot in the running order. Click here for a new fact The 1957 contest is the first to feature a scoreboard, following the secret jury of 1956. Click here for a new fact Birthe Wilke and Gustav Winckler were the first duo to perform in the Eurovision Song Contest, representing Denmark. However, Alice and Ellen Kessler were the first twins. Click here for a new fact It is rumoured that Germany came second in 1956 with "Im Wartesaal zum großen Glück", as the contest was held there the next year, but the hosting country rules hadn't come into place at the time - each country took it in turns until a lot wanted to debut. Click here for a new fact